“The View From the Phlipside” is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY. It can be heard Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moment’s notice. WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed. You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com. Copyright 2013-17 by Jay Phillippi. All Rights Reserved. You like what you see and hear? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Programs from week of October 15, 2017
This Week’s Podcast
My name is Jay Phillippi and I’ve spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
Who’s Henry?
As a member of the Baby Boomer generation I will admit to having become accustomed to the media catering to the needs wants and desires of my demographic. We were raised knowing that we were the largest population segment in the history of the nation. Just over 78 million of us. We changed how the media worked and the kinds of programming that was created. We WERE the 900 pound gorilla in the room. The media danced to our tune. And let’s be honest here, we liked it. We really liked it.
Well, it’s time to face a jarring revelation. Our time, if not over, is rapidly coming to an end, as the be all and end all of the media world. First of all, we are no longer the biggest gorilla in the room. Part of that is just the depredations of time and age. The Boomer generation is starting to die off. We are down to only 74 million members, give or take. The Millennials, those born between 1980 and 2000, number 93 million. And the largest single age demographic is theirs as well, with just shy of five million 26 year olds.
Now some Boomers are not taking this usurpation quietly. The “Things Millennials Are Destroying” memes continue to circulate. As always, my position is that we need to knock it off. Our parents and grandparents thought we were screwing up the world, were lazy and had bad attitudes. And we thought them dinosaurs, reactionary squares who didn’t “get” that, in the words of the Cass Elliott song, “There’s A New World Coming”. Guess what? We sound just like them. The kids are coming onto our lawns whether we like it or not. So stop.
Better we should pay attention to who will be shaping this new world. Here’s the term you’ll need for the test, a “HENRY”. That’s a High Earning, Not Rich Yet”. In other words, a 26 or so year old who makes fifty thousand dollars a year or more. Between now and roughly the year 2040, that’s who will influence the media.
While we are still trying to figure out most of what makes Millennials tick, the HENRYs show some more traditional inclinations. Better educated and informed than most of their demographic, they are also the most likely to be married and to own, or plan to own, a home. The generation as a whole likes bells and whistles on their technology, which may mean more sales of high items, rather than value shopping.
The Boomers changed the world. Now it’s time let someone else take the wheel.
Social Media Rules
I get a lot of mileage some days out of people being dumb on various iterations of social media. For any kind of commentator, it’s just low hanging fruit. So easy, so tasty. Eventually, my love for the media in general forces its way to the front and inquires if, perhaps, I could use my tiny little platform to try and make things better, rather than simply mock.
Fine.
Social media is a train wreck. Sure, there are plenty of interesting items and fun little bits of intellectual flotsam and jetsam, but far too many of us out there really have no idea how to behave. I’m not talking about bad language or incivility, both topics that I have touched upon before.
I’m saying that a lot of us need to consider some guidelines for what we decide to share. Because some of us look pretty dumb out there on a regular basis.
So first, let’s set a basic guiding concept. As a general rule, social media is public. Too many people think they are speaking to a select group when they aren’t. Unless your restrictions are very carefully and tightly set, most of the world can see what you say. So begin by assuming that you are speaking in public. And don’t say anything that you would not be willing to shout while standing at a busy intersection.
As for specific rules, I’d really like to keep them simple. The New York Times just released updated social media rules for its reporters. They struck me as pretty common sense, but they do run on a bit. My first thought is that we could simply settle on “Wheaton’s Law”. This was propounded by actor Will Wheaton, best known for playing Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek – The Next Generation”. While concise, it is exactly four words long, the final word is one that is not always welcome in polite company. Look it up, and I think you’ll agree that’s it’s an excellent guideline.
A slightly longer guideline might be this which I first heard from comedian Craig Ferguson – Does it need to be said? Does it need to be said by me? Does it need to be said by me, right now? If the answer to any of those questions is no, it’s probably a good moment to take a step back.
Because the effect of not stepping back may be more than you bargained for in the heat of the moment. Just ask any of the folks who shot from the lip only to have the immediacy and breadth of the Internet come crashing down on them.
It’s not quite so amusing then.
Once Is Not Enough
Most of us had probably never realized that you could be thrown out of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In fact, outside of the Oscars, most of us don’t think about the Academy much at all. But late last week, we all discovered that it could indeed happen. By a margin termed “well in excess” of the needed two thirds majority, the board voted to expel Harvey Weinsten. Weinstein has been a major power in Hollywood and the move has sent tremors through the movie industry.
In its history only one other member of the Academy is known to have been thrown out. That is actor Carmine Caridi, who lost his membership when he shared one of the “screener” videos sent out before the Oscar voting. It happened in 2004 when the motion picture industry was trying to fight back against piracy. While loaning such videos is a practice that is generally winked at, Caridi got caught when several of his videos turned up in the hands of one of the biggest movie pirates on the planet.
But that’s it. Him and Harvey Weinstein.
While there has been some pushback on this move from people who point out that nothing has been proven in court yet, the industry is clear that there is no doubt in its mind. Weinstein has a reputation of long standing for being power hungry and aggressive. More than a few female professionals have stories about inappropriate conduct on his part or about ways they tried to avoid such conduct.
Here’s the bottom line however. This behavior isn’t just a Harvey Weinstein issue. It’s also not a new problem, nor is it only found in Hollywood. It needs to be addressed in every place that this vile behavior exists. For the moment let’s stay focused on Hollywood and the Academy.
This can’t be the only step they take. While promises of developing “ethical standards of behavior” is good, there are still others who remain members with behavior patterns every bit as repellent as Weinstein’s. Actor Stephen Collins has confessed to inappropriate conduct with underage girls, Bill Cosby faces very similar charges to Weinstein and director Roman Polanski is a convicted sex offender. All remain members of the Academy.
Harvey Weinstein was not always popular with the powers that be at the top of the Hollywood hierarchy. Making him a scapegoat while ignoring the century long “casting couch” traditions of the industry would be reprehensible. If they want to be taken seriously about making a change in the culture of Hollywood, then they need to take serious action.
They need to take that action now.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Copyright Jay Phillippi, 2017
Theme music for “The View From the Phlipside” and “TVFTP – Podcast” is “Hustle”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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